Speed dating tri cities washington
Dating > Speed dating tri cities washington
Click here: ※ Speed dating tri cities washington ※ ♥ Speed dating tri cities washington
Agricultural products from Idaho and eastern Washington are among the main goods transported by barge on the Snake and Dakota rivers. Timber industry activity further contaminates river water, for example in the increased sediment runoff that results from. Retrieved November 27, 2017. How Do We Know Matchmaking Will Work For You. Treatment, but it will be shown your pictures and hear about. This sol meets the Continental Divide at also known as Domenear the northernmost bend of the Columbia River. Most barge traffic originating on the Snake River goes to deep-water ports on the lower Columbia River, such as Portland. One crossing the trail made over the Snake River was near the met-day site of.
This article is about the river in the northwestern United States. For other uses, see. The Snake River is a major river of the greater region in the. At 1,078 miles 1,735 km long, it is the largest of the , in turn the largest North American river that empties into the. The Snake River rises in western , then flows through the of southern , the rugged on the —Idaho border and the rolling of , emptying into the Columbia River at the. The Snake River Plain was created by a volcanic which now lies underneath the Snake River headwaters in. Gigantic glacial-retreat flooding episodes that occurred during the previous carved out canyons, cliffs and waterfalls along the middle and lower Snake River. Two of these catastrophic flooding events, the and , significantly affected the river and its surroundings. Prehistoric lived along the Snake starting more than 11,000 years ago. By the time explored the area, the and were the dominant Native American groups in the region. Later explorers and fur trappers further changed and used the resources of the Snake River basin. At one point, a hand sign made by the Shoshones representing fish was misinterpreted to represent a snake, giving the Snake River its name. By the middle 19th century, the had become well established, bringing numerous settlers to the Snake River region. Starting in the 1890s, fifteen major dams have been built on the Snake River to generate , enhance navigation, and provide irrigation water. However, these dams blocked salmon migration above Hells Canyon and have led to water quality and environmental issues in certain parts of the river. The removal of several dams on the lower Snake River has been proposed, in order to restore some of the river's once-tremendous salmon runs. The Snake River exits and winds southwards through Formed by the confluence of three tiny streams on the southwest flank of Two Oceans Plateau in , western , the Snake starts out flowing west and south into. Its first 50 miles 80 km run through , a wide valley between the and the. Below the tourist town of , the river turns west and flows through , cutting through the and into eastern. It receives the and before entering Palisades Reservoir, where the joins at the mouth of. Below , the Snake River flows through the , a vast arid extending through southern Idaho south-west of the Rocky Mountains and underlain by the , one of the most productive aquifers in the United States. Southwest of , the Snake is joined from the north by. From there it turns south, flowing through downtown , then past the and into , where it is joined by the. The Portneuf River Valley is an overflow channel that in the carried floodwaters from pluvial into the Snake River, significantly altering the landscape of the Snake River Plain through massive erosion. From there the Snake resumes its journey west, entering the. It is interrupted by several major cataracts, the largest being 212-foot 65 m , which historically marked the upriver limit of migrating. A short distance downstream it passes under the. Near , the Snake approaches the southernmost point in its entire course, after which it starts to flow west-northwest. The left joins the Snake River center at The Snake continues through its canyon, receiving the from the east near and then the from the south in. It passes through an agricultural valley about 30 miles 48 km southwest of and flows briefly west into , before turning north to define the Idaho—Oregon border. Here the Snake River almost doubles in size as it receives several major tributaries — the from the southwest, then the and rivers from the east, and further downstream the from the west and from the east. North of Boise, the Snake enters , a steep, spectacular, rapid-strewn gorge that cuts through the and of Idaho and Oregon. Hells Canyon is one of the most rugged and treacherous portions of the course of the Snake River, posing a major obstacle for 19th-century American explorers. Here the Snake is also impounded by , , and , which together make up the. At the halfway point in Hells Canyon, in one of the most remote and inaccessible sections of its course, the Snake River is joined from the east by its largest tributary, the. From there, the Snake begins to form the —Idaho border, receiving the from the west before receiving the from the east at , which marks the head of navigation on the Snake. The river leaves Hells Canyon and turns west, winding through the of. The Lower Snake River Project's four dams and have transformed this part of the Snake River into a series of reservoirs. The confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers at is part of , the reservoir of. The Columbia River flows about 325 miles 523 km further west to the near. South Fork of the Snake River in Idaho As recently as 165 million years ago, most of western North America was still part of the Pacific Ocean. The nearly complete subduction of the underneath the westward-moving created the , which were pushed up by rising trapped between the sinking Farallon plate and the North American plate. As the North American Plate moved westwards over a stationary beneath the crust, a series of tremendous lava flows and volcanic eruptions carved out the Snake River Plain beginning about 12 million years ago, west of the. Even larger lava flows of issued over eastern Washington, forming the southeast of the Columbia River and the Palouse Hills in the lower Snake. Separate volcanic activity formed the northwestern portion of the plain, an area far from the path of the hotspot which now lies beneath Yellowstone National Park. At this point, the Snake River watershed was beginning to take shape. When the Teton Range uplifted about 9 million years ago along a running north—south through the central Rockies, the river maintained its original course and cut through the southern end of the mountains, forming the Snake River Canyon of Wyoming. About 6 million years ago, the Salmon River Mountains and Blue Mountains at the far end of the plain began to rise; the river cut through these mountains as well, forming Hells Canyon was. A 40-mile-long 64 km lake, known as American Falls Lake, formed behind the barrier. The lake was stable and survived for nearly 30,000 years. About 14,500 years ago, Lake Bonneville in the area, formed in the last glacial period, spilled catastrophically down the Portneuf River into the Snake in an event known as the. This was one of the first in a series of catastrophic flooding events in the Northwest known as the Ice Age Floods. The deluge caused American Falls Lake to breach its natural lava dam, which was rapidly eroded with only the 50-foot-high 15 m American Falls left in the end. For miles on either side of the river, flood waters stripped away soils and scoured the underlying basalt bedrock, forming the Snake River Canyon and creating Shoshone Falls, Twin Falls, Crane Falls, Swan Falls and other waterfalls along the Idaho section of the river. The Bonneville flood waters continued through Hells Canyon and eventually reached the Columbia River. The flood widened Hells Canyon but did not deepen it. The extraordinarily flat and expansive Snake River Plain was the result of the floods and the As the Bonneville Floods rushed down the Snake River, the occurred in the same period, but originating farther north. The Missoula Floods, which occurred more than 40 times between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago, were caused by on the repeatedly being impounded by ice dams then breaking through, with the lake's water rushing over much of eastern Washington in massive surges far larger than the Lake Bonneville Flood. These floods pooled behind the Cascade Range into enormous lakes and spilled over the northern of the Snake River watershed, carving deep canyons through the Palouse Hills including the canyon and. The Lake Bonneville Floods and the Missoula Floods helped widen and deepen the , a giant which allows water from the Columbia and Snake rivers to take a direct route through the Cascade Range to the Pacific. The massive amounts of sediment deposited by the Lake Bonneville Floods in the Snake River Plain also had a lasting effect on most of the middle Snake River. The high of the mostly- rocks in the plain led to the formation of the , one of the most productive aquifers in North America. Many rivers and streams flowing from the north side of the plain sink into the aquifer instead of flowing into the Snake River, a group of watersheds called the. The aquifer filled to hold nearly 100,000,000 120 km 3 of water, underlying about 10,000 square miles 26,000 km 2 in a plume 1,300 feet 400 m thick. Much of the water lost by the Snake River as it transects the plain issues back into the river at its western end, by way of many. The Snake River flows through an arid gorge nearing its mouth in Washington The Snake River is the thirteenth longest river in the United States. Its watershed is the 10th largest among North American rivers, and covers almost 108,000 square miles 280,000 km 2 in portions of six U. Most of the Snake River watershed lies between the Rocky Mountains on the east and the Columbia Plateau on the northwest. The largest tributary of the Columbia River, the Snake River watershed makes up about 41% of the entire Columbia River Basin. Its average discharge at the mouth constitutes 31% of the Columbia's flow at that point. Above the confluence, the Snake is slightly longer than the Columbia—1,078 miles 1,735 km compared to 928 miles 1,493 km —and its drainage basin is slightly larger—4% bigger than the upstream Columbia River watershed. The mostly , even climate of the Snake River watershed on average, receives less than 12 inches 300 mm of per year. However, precipitation in the Snake River watershed varies widely. At Twin Falls, in the center of the Snake River Plain, the climate is nearly desert, with an annual rainfall of just 9. This desert climate occupies the majority of the basin of the Snake River, so although it is longer than the Columbia River above the Tri-Cities, its discharge is on average significantly less. However, in the high Rockies of Wyoming, in the upper Jackson Hole area, the average precipitation is over 30 inches 760 mm , and snowfall averages 252 inches 6,400 mm. Most of the Snake River basin consists of wide, arid plains and rolling hills, bordered by high mountains. In the upper parts of the watershed, however, the river flows through an area with a distinct. There are also stretches where the river and its tributaries have incised themselves into tight gorges. The Snake River watershed includes parts of Yellowstone National Park, , , and many other national and state parks. Map of the with the Snake River highlighted in yellow and the Columbia River in blue Much of the area along the river, within a few miles of its banks, is irrigated farmland, especially in its middle and lower course. Irrigation dams include American Falls Dam, , and. Aside from water from the river, water is also pulled from the Snake River Aquifer for irrigation. Major cities along the river include in Wyoming, Twin Falls, , Boise, and Lewiston in Idaho, and the in Washington , and. There are fifteen dams in total along the Snake River, which aside from irrigation, also produce electricity, maintain a navigation channel along part of the river's route, and provide flood control. However, fish passage is limited to the stretch below Hells Canyon. The Snake River watershed is bounded by several other major North American watersheds, which drain both to the Atlantic or the Pacific, or into basins. On the southwest side a divide separates the Snake watershed from Oregon's , which is endorheic. On the south, the Snake watershed borders that of the in Nevada, and the watershed of the Great Salt Lake the , and rivers on the south. The Snake River also shares a boundary with the to the southeast; the Green River drains parts of Wyoming and Utah and is the largest tributary of the. On the western extremity for a short stretch the Continental Divide separates the Snake watershed from the , a tributary of the , which the Snake begins near. On the north the Snake River watershed is bounded by the , a tributary of the , which flows into the Jefferson River and into the , part of the drainage basin. The rest of the Snake River watershed borders on several other major Columbia River tributaries - mostly the to the north, but also Clark Fork in to the northeast and the to the west. Of these, the Clark Fork via the and the Spokane join the Columbia above the Snake, while the John Day joins downstream of the Snake, in the Columbia River Gorge. It is of note that the northeastern divide of the Snake River watershed forms the Idaho-Montana boundary, so the Snake River watershed does not extend into Montana. Mountain ranges in the Snake watershed include the Teton Range, , , , and the extreme northwestern end of the. The elevation of the Snake River is 358 feet 109 m when it joins the Columbia River. Pollution Agricultural runoff from farms and in the Snake River Plain and many other areas has severely damaged the ecology of the river throughout the 20th century. After the first irrigation dams on the river began operation in the first decade of the 20th century, much of the in a strip a few miles wide along the Snake River was or turned to , and agricultural return flows began to pollute the Snake. Runoff from several was dumped into the river until laws made the practice illegal. During low water, occur throughout the calm stretches of the river, depleting its oxygen supply. Dams like divert water from the Snake River for irrigation, which causes many of the pollution problems in the Snake Much of the return flows do not issue directly back into the Snake River, but rather feed the Snake River Aquifer underneath the Snake River Plain. Water diverted from the river for irrigation, after absorbing any surface pollutants, re-enters the ground and feeds the aquifer. Although the aquifer has maintained its level, it has become increasingly laced with contaminants. Water in the aquifer eventually travels to the west side of the Snake River Plain and re-enters the river as springs. Throughout much of the Snake River Plain and Hells Canyon, excessive sediment is also a recurring problem. In December 2007, the EPA issued a permit requiring owners of along the Snake River to reduce their phosphorus discharge by 40%. Pollutant levels in Hells Canyon upstream of the Salmon River confluence, including that of water temperature, dissolved nutrients, and sediment, are required to meet certain levels. The recorded the river's discharge from a period of 1963—2000 at a below. On August 27, 1965, there was temporarily no flow as a result of testing at Ice Harbor Dam. The highest flow ever recorded on the Snake River was at a different USGS stream gauge near Clarkston, which operated from 1915 to 1972. The river's flow is also measured at several other points in its course. Snake River Scene 1920 by L. Walter Name Canadian explorer first recorded the Native American name of the Snake River as Shawpatin when he arrived at its mouth by boat in 1800. When the crossed westwards into the Snake River watershed in 1805, they first gave it the name Lewis River, Lewis Fork or Lewis's Fork, as was the first of their group to sight the river. Later American explorers, some of whom were originally part of the Lewis and Clark expedition, journeyed into the Snake River watershed and records show a variety of names have been associated with the river. The explorer of the named the river as Mad River. Others gave the river names including Shoshone River after the tribe and Saptin River. Eventually, the name Snake River was derived from an S-shaped gesture the Shoshone tribe made with their hands to represent swimming salmon. Explorers misinterpreted it to represent a , giving the river its present-day name. Early inhabitants The Snake River flowing through the Palouse region about 10 miles 16 km above its mouth on the Columbia River People have been living along the Snake River for at least 11,000 years. During this period people drew upon a wide variety of food resources. It is characterized by large horse-mounted tribes that spent long amounts of time away from their local foraging range hunting bison. In the eastern Snake River Plain there is some evidence of , , and dating back over 10,000 years ago. Early fur traders and explorers noted regional trading centers, and archaeological evidence has shown some to be of considerable antiquity. One such trading center in the Weiser area existed as early as 4,500 years ago. The may have contributed to the historic Shoshones, but it is not well understood. Another poorly understood early cultural component is called the Midvale Complex. The introduction of the horse to the Snake River Plain around 1700 helped in establishing the Shoshone and Northern cultures. On the Snake River in southeastern Washington there are several ancient sites. One of the oldest and most well-known is called the Marmes Rockshelter, which was used from over 11,000 years ago to relatively recent times. The was flooded in 1968 by , the Lower Monumental Dam's reservoir. Eventually, two large Native American groups controlled most of the Snake River: the Nez Perce, whose territory stretched from the southeastern Columbia Plateau into northern Oregon and western Idaho, and the Shoshone, who occupied the Snake River Plain both above and below Shoshone Falls. Lifestyles along the Snake River varied widely. Below Shoshone Falls, the economy centered on salmon, who often came up the river in enormous numbers. Salmon were the mainstay of the Nez Perce and most of the other tribes below Shoshone Falls. Above the falls, life was significantly different. The Snake River Plain forms one of the only relatively easy paths across the main Rocky Mountains for many hundreds of miles, allowing Native Americans both east and west of the mountains to interact. As a result, the Shoshone centered on a trading economy. According to legend, the Nez Perce tribe was first founded in the valley of the Clearwater River, one of the Snake River's lowermost major tributaries. At its height, there were at least 27 Nez Perce settlements along the Clearwater River and 11 more on the Snake between the mouth of the Clearwater and. There were also villages on the Salmon River, Grande Ronde River, , and the lower Hells Canyon area. The Snake River's annual salmon run, which was estimated at that time to exceed four million in good years, supported the Nez Perce, who lived in permanent, well-defined villages, unlike the nomadic southeastern tribes along the Snake River. The Nez Perce also were involved in trade with the tribe to the north and other middle Columbia River tribes. However, they were enemies to the Shoshone and the other upstream Snake River tribes. The Shoshone or Shoshoni were characterized by nomadic groups that took their culture from the earlier Bitterroot culture and tribes that migrated north via the Owyhee River. In the 18th century, Shoshone territory extended beyond the Snake River Plain, extending over the Continental Divide into the upper Missouri River watershed and even further north into. A epidemic brought by European explorers and fur trappers was responsible for wiping out much of the Shoshone east of the Rocky Mountains, but the Shoshone continued to occupy the Snake River Plain. Eventually, the Shoshone culture merged with that of the Paiute and tribes, which came from the Great Basin and the Hells Canyon area, respectively. The Bannock brought with them the skill of hunting and they had acquired from Europeans, changing the Shoshone way of life significantly. Exploration and settling The Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804—06 was the first American group to cross the Rocky Mountains and sail down the Snake and Columbia rivers to the Pacific Ocean. Meriwether Lewis supposedly became the first American to sight the drainage basin of the Snake River after he crossed the mountains a few days ahead of his party on August 12, 1805, and sighted the Salmon River valley a major Snake tributary from , a few miles from the present-day site of. The party later traveled north, descended the to the Salmon and attempted to descend it to the Snake, but found it impassable because of its violent rapids. The expedition named the Snake River the Lewis River, Lewis's River, or Lewis Fork, in his honor, and they traveled northwards to the , which they traveled via the Clearwater River into the lower Snake, and into the Columbia. The Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming, in 1871 Later American explorers traveled throughout the Snake River area and up its major tributaries beginning in 1806, just after Lewis and Clark had returned. The first was in 1806, who also explored the lower Salmon River. In 1810, , along with a party of , discovered the Henrys Fork of the Snake River, which is now named after him. Many of these later explorers were original members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition who had returned to map and explore the area in greater detail. Even later, American fur trappers scouted the area for beaver streams, but Canadian trappers from the were by now a major competitor. The Hudson's Bay Company first sent fur trappers into the Snake River watershed in 1819. The party of three traveled into the headwaters of the Owyhee River, a major southern tributary of the Snake, but disappeared. However, the area was eventually annexed into the United States. By the middle 19th century, the Oregon Trail had been established, generally following much of the Snake River. One crossing the trail made over the Snake River was near the present-day site of. Several years later, a ferry was established at the site, replacing the old system where pioneers had to ford the wide, powerful and deep Snake. This area has a group of three islands hence the name that splits the Snake into four channels each about 200 feet 61 m wide. Some emigrants chose to ford the Snake and proceed down the west side and recross the river near into Hells Canyon, continue down the drier east side into the gorge, or float the Snake and Columbia to the , the destination of the Oregon Trail. The reason for the Three Island Crossing was the better availability of grass and water access. Numerous ferries have provided crossings of the upper Snake from the Brownlee Ferry at the head of Hell's Canyon to , which operates today at Moose, Wyoming. Sophistication varied from pulled by Indians on horse back at Snake Fort, Fort Boise, as described by in 1836 to an electric operated ferry, the Swan Falls Ferry, at of the early 20th century. Steamboats An unidentified steamboat sails up the Snake River in either Washington or Idaho in 1898 Unlike the Columbia River, it was far more difficult for steamboats to navigate on the Snake. The Columbia River drops 2,690 feet 820 m from source to mouth, while the Snake drops over 8,500 feet 2,600 m in elevation over a length more than 200 miles 320 km shorter. Still, from the 1860s to the 1940s, steamboats traveled on the Snake River from its mouth at the Columbia River to near the mouth of the Imnaha River in lower Hells Canyon. However, most of the steamboats only sailed from the river's mouth to Lewiston, located at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers. This stretch of the river is the easiest to navigate for watercraft since it has the least elevation change, although it still contained over 60 sets of rapids. Passenger and freight service downstream of Lewiston lasted throughout the late 19th century and persisted until the introduction of in the Palouse Hills -growing region and ultimately, the construction of dams on the lower Snake to facilitate traffic, which caused the demise of both the steamboats and the railroad. Lewiston, 140 miles 230 km from the confluence of the Snake and Columbia and 465 miles 748 km from the mouth of the Columbia on the Pacific Ocean, became connected with and other Pacific ports via steamboat service from the mouth of the Snake through the Columbia River Gorge. A commonly traveled route was from , 120 miles 190 km downstream of the Snake River's mouth, upstream to Lewiston. The launched the at Fort Boise in 1866 which provided passenger and freight service on the upper Snake for the Boise and Owyhee mines. By the 1870s, the OSN Company, owned by the , was operating seven steamboats for transporting and grain from the productive Palouse region along the Snake and Columbia to lower Columbia River ports. These boats were the Harvest Queen, John Gates, Spokane, , Mountain Queen, R. Thompson, and Wide West, all of which were built on the Columbia River. However, there were more resources along the Snake River than wheat and grain. In the 1890s, a huge deposit was discovered at Eureka Bar in Hells Canyon. Several ships were built specifically to transport ore from there to Lewiston: these included Imnaha, Mountain Gem, and Norma. In 1893 the Annie Faxon suffered a boiler explosion and sank on the Snake below Lewiston. Further information: and A total of fifteen dams have been constructed along the Snake River for a multitude of different purposes, from its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains to its mouth on , the reservoir formed behind McNary Dam on the Columbia River. Dams on the Snake can be grouped into three major categories. From its headwaters to the beginning of Hells Canyon, many small dams block the Snake to provide water. Between here and Hells Canyon, the first dam on the Snake, Swan Falls Dam, was built in 1901. In Hells Canyon, a cascade of dams produce from the river's steep fall over a comparatively short distance. Finally, a third cascade of dams, from Hells Canyon to the mouth, facilitates navigation. Many different government and private agencies have worked to build dams on the Snake River, which now serve an important purpose for people living in the drainage basin and trade of agricultural products to Pacific seaports. The of the , created with the passage of the of 1902, involved the diversion of Snake River water into the Snake River Plain upstream of Shoshone Falls in order to irrigate approximately 1,100,000 acres 4,500 km 2 in the Snake River Plain and store 4,100,000 acre feet 5. The first studies for irrigation in the Snake River Plain were conducted by the United States Geological Survey in the late 19th century, and the project was authorized on April 23, 1904. The first dam constructed for the project was Minidoka Dam in 1904; its power plant began operating in 1909, producing 7 MW of electricity. This capacity was revised to 20 MW in 1993. As the dams were constructed above Shoshone Falls, the historical upriver limit of salmon and also a total barrier to boats and ships, no provisions were made for fish passage or navigation. Several other irrigation dams were also built - including and. The three dams of the project, Brownlee Dam, Oxbow Dam and Hells Canyon Dam, are located in upper Hells Canyon. All three dams are primarily for power generation and flood control, and do not have fish passage or navigation locks. Brownlee Dam, the most upriver dam, was constructed in 1959, and generates 728 MW. Oxbow Dam, the second dam in the project, was built in 1961 and generates 220 MW. The dam was named for a 3-mile-wide 4. Hells Canyon Dam was the last and most downriver of the three. It was constructed in 1967 and generates 450 MW. Downriver of Hells Canyon is the Lower Snake River Project, authorized by the for the to create a navigable channel on the Snake River from its mouth to the beginning of Hells Canyon. These dams are, from upstream to downstream: , , , and. These dams form a cascade of reservoirs with no stretches of free-flowing river in between. Immediately below Ice Harbor Dam is Lake Wallula, formed by the construction of the McNary Dam on the Columbia River. McNary Dam is not part of the Lower Snake River Project. Above Lower Granite Dam, the river channel from Lewiston to , just below Hells Canyon, is also maintained for jet-boats as this section is too rugged for ships. These dams have been proposed for removal, and if they were to be removed, it would be the largest project ever undertaken in the United States. The removal has been proposed on the grounds that it would restore salmon runs to the lower Snake River and the Clearwater River and other smaller tributaries. Idaho's Snake river once teemed with sockeye salmon. However, there are almost no wild sockeye salmon left in the river due to a number of factors. There are many reasons why Sockeye Salmon in the Snake River are reduced in number. One reason is that the river runs through three different states, and is over 1,000 miles 1,600 km long. Salmon swimming upstream in this river are faced with predators and dams. The Snake River has fifteen dams and is extremely difficult for salmon to access because of hydroelectric dams. Hell's Canyon Dam blocks passage to the entire upper Snake River. Between 1985 and 2007, only an average of 18 sockeye salmon returned to Idaho each year. Serious conservation efforts by wildlife biologists and fish hatcheries have captured the few remaining wild sockeye salmon, collected their sperm and eggs, and in a laboratory, have them spawn. Instead of spawning naturally, these sockeye begin their lives in an incubator in a fishery biologist's laboratory. These baby salmon then are transported by ship, bypassing the dams. The dams can hurt juvenile baby sockeye salmon with their powerful tides and currents, which suck the baby salmon down. Another conservation effort that has helped the salmon recover, is the destruction of old, outdated dams, such as the Lewiston Dam on the Clearwater River, a tributary of the Snake. After destroying the dam, salmon populations noticeably recovered. Another interesting recovery method conservationists and biologists are using is called Fish Transportation. Since many juvenile salmon perish at each dam while swimming out to the ocean, massive ships filter and collect these baby salmon by size and take them out to the ocean for a ride, where they can be guaranteed to make it alive to saltwater. Overall, these combined efforts have had good success. In the summer of 2006, the Snake River reportedly only had 3 sockeye salmon that returned to their spawning grounds. In the summer of 2013, more than 13,000 sockeye salmon returned to the spawning grounds. The Navigation In the 1960s and 1970s the U. Army Corps of Engineers built four dams and locks on the lower Snake River to facilitate shipping. The lower Columbia River has likewise been dammed for navigation. Thus a deep through locks and slackwater reservoirs for heavy barges exists from the Pacific Ocean to Lewiston, Idaho. Most barge traffic originating on the Snake River goes to deep-water ports on the lower Columbia River, such as Portland. Grain, mostly wheat, is the main product shipped from the Snake, and nearly all of it is exported internationally from the lower Columbia River ports. The shipping channel is authorized to be at least 14 feet 4 m deep and 250 feet 76 m wide. Where river depths were less than 14 feet 4 m , the shipping channel has been dredged in most places. Dredging and redredging work is ongoing and actual depths vary over time. With a channel about 5 feet 1. Agricultural products from Idaho and eastern Washington are among the main goods transported by barge on the Snake and Columbia rivers. Grain, mainly wheat, accounts for more than 85% of the cargo barged on the lower Snake River. In 1998, over 123,000,000 US bushels 4. Before the completion of the lower Snake dams, grain from the region was transported by truck or rail to Columbia River ports around the Tri-Cities. Other products barged on the lower Snake River include peas, lentils, forest products, and petroleum. Shoshone Falls marks the boundary between the two. The WWF placed the ecoregion boundary about 50 kilometres 31 mi downriver from Shoshone Falls in order to include the the main tributary of the in the Upper Snake ecoregion, because the Wood River is biologically distinct from the rest of the downriver Snake. Shoshone Falls has presented a total barrier to the upstream movement of fish for 30,000 to 60,000 years. As a result, only 35% of the fish fauna above the falls, and 40% of the Wood River's fish fauna, are shared with the lower Snake River. The Upper Snake freshwater ecoregion includes most of southeastern Idaho and extends into small portions of Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada, including major freshwater habitats such as Jackson Lake. Compared to the lower Snake River and the rest of the Columbia River's watershed, the Upper Snake ecoregion has a high level of , especially among such as and. There are at least 21 snail and clam species of special concern, including 15 that appear to exist only in single clusters. There are 14 fish species found in the Upper Snake region that do not occur elsewhere in the Columbia's watershed, but which do occur in Bonneville freshwater ecoregion of western Utah, part of the Great Basin and related to the prehistoric Lake Bonneville. The Cottus leiopomus is endemic to the Wood River. The Cottus greenei is endemic to the small portion of the Snake River between Shoshone Falls and the Wood River. The Snake River below Shoshone Falls is home to thirty-five native fish species, of which twelve are also found in the Columbia River and four of which are endemic to the Snake: the relict sand roller of the family, the shorthead , the maginated sculpin , and the. The Oregon chub is also found in the and nearby basins. The lower Snake River also supports seven species of Pacific salmon and trout. There are also high, often localized levels of mollusc endemism, especially in Hells Canyon and the basins of the Clearwater River, Salmon River, and middle Snake River. The mollusc richness extends into the lower Columbia River and tributaries such as the. Animals Aside from aquatic species, much of the Snake River watershed supports larger animals including numerous species of mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. Especially in the headwaters and the other mountainous areas strewn throughout the watershed, the , , , and are common. It has been determined that there are 97 species of mammals in the upper part of the Snake River, upstream from the Henrys Fork confluence. About 274 bird species, some endangered or threatened, use the Snake River watershed, including , , , , and. In the middle reaches of the Snake River as it flows through the Snake River Plain, introduced species have fared better than native species Ten amphibian and twenty species of reptiles inhabit the upper Snake River's and. However, in the lower and middle portions of the Snake River watershed, several native species have been severely impacted by agriculture practices and the resulting non-native species supported by them. Introduced birds include the , , and. Other non-native species include the , , and , attracted by the construction of cities and towns. Plants The headwaters of the Snake River remain heavily forested, especially inside protected areas The Snake River watershed includes a diversity of vegetation zones both past and present. A majority of the watershed was once covered with , most common in the Snake River Plain and also the Columbia Plateau in southeastern Washington. Riparian zones, wetlands and marshes once occurred along the length of the Snake River and its tributaries. In higher elevations, conifer forests, of which is most common, dominate the landscape. The basin ranges from to alpine climates, providing habitat for hundreds of species of plants. In the lowermost part of the watershed, in southeastern Washington, the Snake River is surrounded by an area called the Columbia Plateau Ecoprovince, which is now mostly occupied by irrigated farms. The rest of the Plateau area is characterized by low hills, dry lakes, and an arid, nearly desert climate. The headwaters of the Snake River and the high mountains elsewhere in the watershed were historically heavily forested. These include , , and , comprising about 20% of the historic watershed. At the base of mountains and in the Lost River basin, was and is the predominant vegetation cover. Because of deforestation, up to one quarter of the forests have been taken over by sagebrush, leaving the remaining forests to cover about 15% of the watershed. However, the has increased in number, taking over historic stands of other conifers. There are also up to 118 species of rare or endemic plants that occur in the Snake River watershed. Salmon and other anadromous fish The Snake River was once one of the most important rivers for the spawning of —which are hatched in the headwaters of rivers, live in the ocean for most of their lives, and return to the river to spawn—in the United States. The river supported species including , , and , as well as , , and. It is known that before the construction of dams on the river, there were three major chinook salmon runs in the Snake River; in the spring, summer and fall, totaling about 120,000 fish, and the sockeye salmon run was about 150,000. The historical barrier to fish migration on the Snake River was Shoshone Falls, a waterfall that occurs as the Snake River passes through the Snake River Plain. Reaches such as this one in are no longer accessible to salmon due to the construction of dams Since the early 20th century, when Swan Falls Dam was constructed on the middle Snake River upstream of Hells Canyon, the fifteen dams and reservoirs on the river have posed an increasing problem for migrating salmon. Agricultural lands and their resulting runoff have also had a significant impact on the success rate of migrating fish. Salmon can travel up the Snake River as far as Hells Canyon Dam, using the fish passage facilities of the four lower Snake River dams, leaving the Clearwater, Grande Ronde and Salmon river to sustain spawning salmon. Rising in several forks in the Clearwater Mountains of central Idaho, the Clearwater and Salmon River watersheds are nearly undeveloped with the enormous exception of on the. The watershed of the Grande Ronde in northeastern Oregon is also largely undeveloped. The four reservoirs formed by the lower Snake River dams—, Lake Herbert G. West, Lake Bryan, and Lower Granite Lake—have also formed problems, as the downstream current in the pools is often not enough for the fish to sense, confusing their migration routes. At the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, young salmon that swim down from spawning gravels in the headwaters of the Clearwater River often delay their migrations because of a significant temperature difference. Prior to the removal of on the main Clearwater and on the , the Clearwater was completely unusable by migrating salmon. Agricultural runoff and water held in reservoirs higher upstream on the Snake warm its waters as it flows through the Snake River Plain, so as the Snake meets the Clearwater, its average temperature is much higher. Directly below the confluence, the river flows into Lower Granite Lake, formed by , the uppermost dam of the Lower Snake River Project. Paradoxically, the combination of these factors gives the young salmon further time to grow and to feed in Lower Granite Lake, so when they begin the migration to the Pacific Ocean, they often have a higher chance at survival, compared to those salmon who migrate to the ocean earlier. Lower Snake River dam removal A controversy has erupted since the late 20th century over the four lower Snake River dams, with the primary argument being that removing the dams would allow anadromous fish to reach the lower Snake River tributaries—the Clearwater River, the Tucannon River and the Grande Ronde River—and spawn in much higher numbers. However, removal of the dams has been fiercely opposed by some groups in the Pacific Northwest. Because much of the electricity in the Northwest comes from dams, removing the four dams would create a hole in the energy grid that would not be immediately replaceable. Navigation on the lower Snake would also suffer, as submerged riffles, rapids and islands would be exposed by the removal of the dams. Irrigation pumps for fields in southeastern Washington would also have to reach further to access the water of the Snake River. However, aside from restoring salmon runs, proponents argue that the power is replaceable, that the grain transportation system could be replaced by railroads, and that only one of the four reservoirs supplies irrigation water. Irrigators in the Snake River Plain would likely need to allow less water into the Snake River during low flow in order to create a current in the four lower reservoirs, and recreation and tourism would likely benefit. The is the second largest tributary, joining the Snake in Hells Canyon The Snake River has over 20 major , most of which are in the mountainous regions of the basin. The largest by far is the Clearwater River, which drains 9,000 square miles 23,000 km 2 in north central Idaho. Many of the rivers that flow into the Snake River Plain from the north sink into the Snake River Aquifer, but still contribute their water to the river. Aside from rivers, the Snake is fed by many significant springs, many of which arise from the aquifer on the west side of the plain. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. United States Geological Survey. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 20 April 2011. Army Corps of Engineers. United States Geological Survey. Idaho Water Resources Research Institute at Idaho Falls. University of Idaho, Idaho Falls. Archived from on 2012-04-23. Idaho Water Resources Research Institute at Idaho Falls. University of Idaho, Idaho Falls. Archived from on 2012-03-21. Cartography by United States Geological Survey. South Central Idaho Virtual Tour. College of Southern Idaho. Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Digital Geology of Idaho. Idaho State University Department of Geosciences. Digital Geology of Idaho. Creation of the Teton Landscape: The Geologic Story of Grand Teton National Park. Archived from on 2014-11-07. United States Geological Survey. Geology of the Pacific Northwest. Archived from on 2011-03-15. Digital Atlas of Idaho. Ice Age Floods Institute. Archived from on 2010-02-12. Department of Geography and Geology. Archived from on 2009-08-05. State of Idaho Oversight Monitor. Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. National Water Quality Assessment Program. United States Geological Survey. Ground Water Atlas of the United States: Idaho, Oregon, Washington. United States Geological Survey. Priest Rapids is the closest USGS gauge upstream of the Snake confluence that has a reliable discharge record. National Water Information System. United States Geological Survey. Western Regional Climate Center. Western Regional Climate Center. Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Cartography by CEC, Atlas of Canada, National Atlas, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. Commission for Environmental Cooperation CEC. Archived from on 2008-04-14. Central Washington Native Plants. Archived from on 2009-10-23. Digital Atlas of Idaho. Idaho Museum of Natural History. Agricultural nonpoint source pollution: watershed management and hydrology. National Water Information System. United States Geological Survey. National Water Information System. United States Geological Survey. National Water Information System. United States Geological Survey. National Water Information System. United States Geological Survey. National Water Information System. United States Geological Survey. National Water Information System. United States Geological Survey. Hiking Wyoming: 110 of the State's Best Hiking Adventures 2 ed. National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The Prehistory of the Western Snake River Basin. Digital Atlas of Idaho. Prehistory of the Western Snake River Basin. Digital Atlas of Idaho. A guide to the Indian tribes of the Pacific Northwest. University of Oklahoma Press. The Bannock of Idaho. The Lewis and Clark journals: An American epic of discovery. University of Nebraska Press. The way to the western sea: Lewis and Clark across the continent. University of Nebraska Press. Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series. Idaho State Historical Society. Engines of our Ingenuity. The Oregon Trail in Idaho. Idaho State Historical Society. Archived from on 2010-06-12. Jackson Hole Photo Gallery. Wyoming Tales and Trails. Idaho State Historical Society. Steamboats on Northwest Rivers. Archived from PDF on 2011-09-29. Snake River of Hells Canyon. River Tales of Idaho. Irrigated Eden: the making of an agricultural landscape in the American West. University of Washington Press. USACE Walla Walla District. Archived from on 2012-02-16. USACE Walla Walla District. Archived from on September 27, 2011. Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Archived from on 2013-06-28. Archived from PDF on 2011-01-03. World Wide Fund for Nature and the Nature Conservancy. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Archived from on 2011-07-26. World Wide Fund for Nature and the Nature Conservancy. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Archived from on 2011-07-26. Olsen; Eric Dinerstein; Patrick T. Freshwater Ecoregions of North America: A Conservation Assessment. Dam Removal Success Stories. Archived from PDF on 2011-07-22. Archived from the original on April 15, 2010. Archived from PDF on 2009-08-13. Archived from PDF on 2011-09-29.
Last updated
